Board Minutes May 15, 2018

President’s Report: Both the 2016 and 2017 Verseweavers are printed and will be mailed in one envelope near the first of June. The board discussed and selected a new theme for the fall contest theme category. Unanimous vote to use “Harvest” for the fall contest theme. Unanimous vote to use “rondeau” for the contest form category. Winners from the spring contest are having their work displayed on the OPA website. The Cascadia Student Contest Award Ceremony was well-received. Oregon Senior and junior division poems resulted in four of ten winners in the Manningham national contest. OPA voted to produce future Cascadia anthologies in time for distribution at the award ceremony without delaying production if the Manningham results are not available by our printing deadline.

Tiel and Dale will be working on the OPA web page. The board had a previous email conversation about the membership form design. The board can upgrade the brochure for any future recruiting use. A lengthy SKYPE discussion followed about including poetry on brochures and how to select material.

Treasurer’s Report: OPA did not receive an Autzen Grant for the next student contest. Lynn is already in the process of applying for alternate grant funding for the 2018-19 Cascadia. We need long-term corporate sponsors for our activities. OPA has leftover grant funds to start the mailing process for the student contest for 2018-19, but additional funding is required.

Membership Report: 261 is our current membership number. Submittable has added an option to make multiple payments in one transaction. For example: dues, contest entry fee and a donation. Membership chair will investigate and report back to the board.

Newsletter: Dale is handling the newsletter while Bruce is absent. She hopes to interview Kim Stafford for an article. He has been named Oregon Poet Laureate. Deadline for the newsletter is the 25th of each month.

Local/regional activities: Southern Oregon literary workshop events have been excellent and well-received. A northern Rogue Valley unit may also be formed.

Entries for the Knight Library/OPC/OPA contest have been limited. The judges are reading and rating entries. In addition to the winners, other readers for the award ceremony will be selected by the library and OPA.

Portland area members discussed hosting a reading for the winners of OPA contests. The definition of units is murky. Erik and Lisa will work on a definition.

Erik has made an effort to contact Eastern Oregon poets about finding a way to enhance the poetry activity on the East side of the Cascades.

Lynn is interested in exploring a closed Facebook site for OPA members. She does not wish to be the administrator for such a group. Southern Oregon had four closed Facebook groups for April Poetry Month and its Poem-A-Day activity.

Conference planning: Only five proposals have been received. We need about a dozen presenters. We must push for more. The board identified two notable Oregon poets to query about making the Keynote Address. The board discussed the order of events. Keynote will be the first event on Saturday morning. Details of VRI venue will be reviewed at the retreat.

The retreat will be held at Joy’s home outside Springfield. The hours will be 9:30 to 4 PM. We will all bring food for a potluck.

Fundraising: No report

Next Meeting: The next meeting will be the retreat on Saturday, June 9, 2018. Joy will send driving instructions.

Upcoming Poetry Events

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A third generation Van Dreal artist, John began creative endeavors such as painting and writing at age 7. He earned his formal education in fine art and educational psychology, maintaining careers in both fields while writing in his spare time. … Continue reading →

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